Dead Media Beat: AOL

*It’s always interesting when digital publishing collapses just like analog publishing, only harder and faster.

*Maybe the key problem here is the concept of “publishing.” It would be exceedingly interesting to see a world entirely devoid of “content providers.” There are plenty of vast favelas today that have no conventional media whatsoever; they make do with rumor, word of mouth and hustle. Imagine a world where the Internet destroyed all analog media and then the Internet also collapsed. It’d be all about retweets.

*I remember when Steve Case told me that he believed that the Internet would become a talent farm-system for his American commercial media system. He meant it, too. At the time it even sounded plausible to his investors (if not to me personally).

*The media world we had way back then — compared to today’s exotic media world? Probably less weird than the flashmob rumor-world that I just described. If London Blackberry rioters overwhelmed the cops and hung Murdoch from a lantern, we’d have a world like that in about a week.